Vaccination bill gets mixed responses

Most Missouri city dwellers already have to get their dogs and cats vaccinated for rabies.

But state Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, wants lawmakers to make those vaccinations a statewide requirement.

“Most municipalities and some counties actually have ordinances that regulate this, (and) this does not supersede those requirements,” Brown, who also is a veterinarian, told colleagues on the Senate’s Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee, Tuesday afternoon.

“In outstate Missouri, in some of our smaller counties, there is no guidance and no rules or regulations that law enforcement and veterinarians practicing in those counties really have to go by,” Brown said.

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Violations of the law — if it clears the Legislature and governor — would be a Class C misdemeanor, and could result in a sentence of not more than 15 days in jail.